Transfer device for use in cutting units for paper sheets

ABSTRACT

A cutting unit for paper sheets comprising a conveyor carriage for transferring paper sheets from a vertically displaceable support unto the working table of said cutting unit, by engagement of horn-like extensions provided on said carriage with the amount of sheets to be transferred at each transfer movement of the carriage. To prevent the paper sheets from sliding during transfer and to ensure correct positioning thereof on the carriage so as to avoid improper engagement with the feeder roller advancing the sheets from the conveyor onto the cutting means proper, a counter-holder means is arranged which operates independently of the vertically movable support and is adapted, upon displacement of the conveyor carriage into the stack of sheets, to lift the rear end of said sheets. The counter-holder preferably consists of a plate mounted on arms which are hingedly connected to a frame. Guide means are arranged on the conveyor carriage to cooperate with roller means on the counter-holder to lift it during displacement of the carriage.

United States Paten Gadler I [54] TRANSFER DEVICE FOR USE [N i CUTTING UNITS FOR PAPER SHEETS [72]. Inventor: Gustav Ake Bernhard Gldler, Lantmannavagen 9, 8-342 00 Alvesta,

Sweden [22] Filed: June 28,1971 21 Appl. No.: 157,226

301 Foreign Application Priority hm Jan. 28, 1970 Sweden ..1033/70 [52 us. Cl ..2l4/8.5 ss [51] Int. Cl .nssg 59/02 [521 Field of Search ..2l4/8.5 ss, 8.5 A, 8.5 R 56 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,464,513 ,8/1923 Sutherland ..214/s.s ss 2,960,243 11/1960 Beaulieu ..214/s.s ss

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examinan-George F. Abraham Attorney-Town and McGeady 1151 3,701,441 1' Oct. 31, 1972 A cuttingunit for paper sheets comprising a conveyor carriage for transferring paper sheets from a vertically .of sheets, to lift the rear end of said sheets. The

counter-holder preferably consists of a plate mounted on arms which are hingedly connected to a frame. Guide meansare arrangedon the conveyor carriage to cooperate with roller means on the counter-holder to lift it during displacement of the carriage.

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INVENTOR GUSTAV A.B.6ADLER WTWZW BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to cutting units for paper sheet of the kind incorporating a conveyor carriage by means of which the paper sheets are transferred in piles from a support, adapted to be raised and lowered and on which a stack of paper sheets rests, onto the working table of the cutting unit, said conveyor carriage being provided with a table top presenting horns at the edge facing the paper sheetstack, said horns being adapted upon'displacement of the carriage towards the stack, to'engage underneath the free ends of rails inserted in the stack in order to lift the sheet pile which at that moment is above the uppermost rail, said table top also between the horns a rotatably driven feeder roller and preferably also a number of upright nozzles connected to a source of 'compressed'air.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is characterized in that it comprises a counter-holder which is arranged independently of the vertically movable support and adapted, upon displacement of the carriage together with the table top to its forward end position into the stack of sheets, to lift the rear end of the sheet pile, divided by the table top. Owing to the provision of the counter-holder it is ensured that the sheet pile does not slide away from the stack of sheets when the table top of the carriage engages in the stack. Because the counter-holder lifts the rear end of the sheet pile it is also ensured that the sheet pile will be positioned correctly on the table top with its rear edge at a safe distance away from the feeder roller. Thanks to this arrangement, the feeder roller cannot damage the lowermost sheet of the sheet pile during its rotation, nor can it engage thelowerrnost sheet to pull it down into the gap in the tabletop where the roller is mounted.

Further advantages and characteristics of the invention will become apparent upon reading of the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the cutting unit, a conveyor carriage and a sheet stack support incorporating the counter-holder in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the arrangement showing the conveyor carriage in its rear end position, ie, its position adjacent the cutting unit,

' FIG. 3 illustrates on an enlarged scale the conveyor carriage together with its table top while moving into the stack of sheets, and

FIG. 4 illustrates the conveyor carriage in its forward end position, wherein the table top is entirely embedded in the stack of sheets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT On the drawings the cutting unit has received reference numeral 1, the conveyor carriage 2 and a stack lifter 3.

The cutting unit 1 is provided with a vertically operating guillotine 4 dividing paper sheets into smaller sizes on the working table 5 of the cutting unit.

The conveyor carriage 2 is provided with runner wheels 6 driven for instance by means of an electric motor (not illustrated) in both directions such that the wheels run on rails 7 extending between'the cutting unit 1 and the stack lifter 3. The conveyor carriage 2 is provided with an essentially rectangular table top 8 positioned at the same level as is the working table 5 of the cutting unit 1. The table top 8 is shaped like a box and connected to a compressor 9 and its upper surface 10 presents a number ofnozzles 1 1 known per se incorporating ball valves. The nozzles are constructed in such a way that when a pile 12 of paper sheets from the sheet stack 13 of the stack lifter 3 is resting thereon, the valves open and air flows out through the nozzles, thus forming an air cushion on which the sheet pilerests. The side walls 14 of the carriage 2 are spaced apart a distance permitting the carriage to roll in over the stack 13 of sheets. At the left end of the carriage 2 with reference to the drawings the side walls 14 are provided with horn-likeextensions 15, the upper edges 16 of which slope downwards from the table top 8. In addition the table top 8 is provided at its left edge with a rotatably driven feeder roller 17 extending in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, the side walls present guide means 18 which are provided laterally of the extensions 15 and on the outside thereof and arranged to lift a counter-holder plate 19 in a manner to be described more in detail in the following The stack lifter 3 is preferably of the type comprising a support 20 upon which rests a stack 13 of sheets said support being provided with a nut into which is threaded a vertical screw spindle which is rotatably but axially non-displaceably mounted. in a frame 21 and driven by an electric motor. The nut, the spindle and the motor are not illustrated on the drawings. A

number of angle rails 23,24,25,26 and 27 are spaced an 7 equal distance apart, i.e. 10 to 15 cm, in the vertical unit 1 such that one leg 28 of the rails extends obliquely upwards and outwards externally of the stack 13 of sheets.

The counter-holder plate 19 is provided with two rearwardly extending arms 29 the rear ends of which are hingedly connected to the frame 21 by means of horizontal pins 30. The counter-holder plate 19 presents at its lower edge a horizontal flange 31 which is directed towards the stack 13 of sheets, and also two rollers 32 intended to cooperate with the guide means 18. In addition, the counter-holder plate 19 is provided with a photocell 33 towards which a beam 34 of light is directed from'an electric lamp 35 positioned below the working table 5 of the cutting unit 1. An abutment means 36 on the frame 21 limits the movement of arms 29 together with the counter-holder plate 19 with respect to a lower positions The device also comprises a number of electric limit position switches and electrical push-buttons 37,38,39,40 and 41 by means of which the carriage 2 may be started to move towards the stack lifter 3 and back towards the cutting unit 1, and stopped, and also the compressor 9 and the guillotine 4 started. The means for effecting these movements have not been described in detail or illustrated in detail on the drawings as they are known to one skilled in the art.

The device operates in the following manner. When the carriage 2 moves to the left as seen on the drawings and the horn-like extensions 15 engage underneath the ends of rail 23, the pile 12 of sheets positioned above said rail is lifted during the continued movement to the left of the carriage such that the right pile end reaches up on the table top 8 whereafter the entire pile will be advanced onto the top by means of the roller 17. When the carriage 2 reaches its left end position (FIG. 4) the guide means 18 engage underneath the rollers 32 and swing the counter-holder plate 19 upwards whereby the rear edge 42 of the sheet pile 12 will be lifted by means of flange 31 over feeder roller 17 and past the latter. The counter-holder plate 19 prevents the pile 12 from being displaced out of order on the rest of the sheet stack 13. In its left end position the carriage 2 abuts against a limit position switch, bringing about a change of the drive direction of the runner wheels 6, whereupon the carriage moves to the right on the rails 7. Op-

posite the cutting unit 1 the carriage stops automatically. The compressor, started earlier, supplies compressed air to the nozzles 11 via the ball valves. These are kept open on account of the weight on them by the paper pile 12 on the table top 8 such that the pile will be supported on an air cushion above the table top. Consequently, the cutting means may easily transfer the paper pile l2 unto the working table of the cutting, unit, said working table preferably having similar nozzles provided with ball valves and connected to the source of compressed air. When the edges of the paper pile 12 have been cut and possibly divided by means of the guillotine 4, the finished, edge-cut paper pile or pile sections, is or are transferred by the cutter to a deposit table (not shown). When the carriage 2 reaches the right end position, it actuates a limit position switch to close the circuit to the lamp 35 emitting a beam 34 towards the photocell 33. The result is that the photocell 33 other means for sensing and stepwise lifting of the stack 13 of sheets may be considered. Also the counter-holder for the pile 12 of sheets may be given a different shape from the one illustrated on the drawings.

What I claim is:

1. In a mechanism for cutting paper sheets, said mechanism comprising a vertically displaceable support having a stack of paper sheets to be cut supported thereupon, a working table, a conveyor carriage having a table top and adapted to transfer piles of sheets from said supported stack onto said working table, horn-like extensions arranged on said table top to extend in the direction of said stack rails inserted in said stack at mtervafs and having free ends extendspaced vertical ing therefrom in the direction of said carriage, said horn-like extensions being adapted upon displacement of said carriage toward said stack to engage beneath one of said rails thereby to effect lifting of a pile of said stack of sheets located above said engaged rail, and a rotatably driven feed roller located on said table top between said horn-like extensions, the improvement comprising counter-holder means positionable independently of the vertical movement of said support and adapted upon movement of said carriage toward said stack to engage beneath said pile of sheets located above said engaged rail at an end thereof opposite said rail and to lift said end of said sheet pile.

2. The improvement according to claim 1 comprising guide means located on said conveyor carriage and positioned to engage said counter-holder means to effect lifting thereof upon movement of said carriage to engage said sheet pile.

electric motor of the stack lifter 3 starts to lift the support 20 together with the stack 13 of sheets until the beam 34 is broken by the end 43 of the angle rail 24 extending beyond the one side of the stack of sheets (FIG. 1). The motor of the stack lifter 3 is hereby stopped and the rail 24 together with the sheet pile positioned thereabove are then in correct position to be lifted unto the table top 8 upon repeated displacement of the carriage 2 to the left. The procedure is repeated until the entire sheet stack 13 has been treated.

The embodiment as shown and described is to be regarded as an example only and the various details of the device may be constructively altered in many ways within the frame of the appended claims. Instead of a 3. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said counter-holder means comprise a plate extending adjacent and parallel to said stack of sheets, and pivotally mounted arms supporting said plate and enabling pivotal motion thereof to engage and lift said sheet pile end.

4. The improvement according to claim 3 wherein said plate comprises a horizontal flange extending in a direction into said sheet stack.

5. The improvement according to claim 2 wherein said counter-holder means has roller means mounted thereon and wherein said guide means comprise sloping cam surfaces laterally positioned on the outsides of said horn-like extensions to engage said roller means during movement of said carriage into engagement with said sheet pile for effecting lifting of said counterholder means. 

1. In a mechanism for cutting paper sheets, said mechanism comprising a vertically displaceable support having a stack of paper sheets to be cut supported thereupon, a working table, a conveyor carriage having a table top and adapted to transfer piles of sheets from said supported stack onto said working table, horn-like extensions arranged on said table top to extend in the direction of said stack, rails inserted in said stack at spaced vertical intervals and having free ends extending therefrom in the direction of said carriage, said horn-like extensions being adapted upon displacement of said carriage toward said stack to engage beneath one of said rails thereby to effect lifting of a pile of said stack of sheets located above said engaged rail, and a rotatably driven feed roller located on said table top between said horn-like extensions, the improvement comprising counter-holder means positionable independently of the vertical movement of said support and adapted upon movement of said carriage toward said stack to engage beneath said pile of sHeets located above said engaged rail at an end thereof opposite said rail and to lift said end of said sheet pile.
 2. The improvement according to claim 1 comprising guide means located on said conveyor carriage and positioned to engage said counter-holder means to effect lifting thereof upon movement of said carriage to engage said sheet pile.
 3. The improvement according to claim 1 wherein said counter-holder means comprise a plate extending adjacent and parallel to said stack of sheets, and pivotally mounted arms supporting said plate and enabling pivotal motion thereof to engage and lift said sheet pile end.
 4. The improvement according to claim 3 wherein said plate comprises a horizontal flange extending in a direction into said sheet stack.
 5. The improvement according to claim 2 wherein said counter-holder means has roller means mounted thereon and wherein said guide means comprise sloping cam surfaces laterally positioned on the outsides of said horn-like extensions to engage said roller means during movement of said carriage into engagement with said sheet pile for effecting lifting of said counter-holder means. 